Writing and musings from Shawn Struck on "geek culture" like video games, technology, web design, tabletop games and more.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Dungeons & Dogerell: Spell POems in AD&D

Okay, so it's probably no big surprise that I am Dorky McNerdpants, and thus play D&D once a week with a bunch of friends (and it's house-ruled 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons, to boot!).

One of my characters is a Celtic-flavored bard by the Name of Daffyd ApOwen, and one quirk I gave him are the fact that along with whatever requirment he has for casting spells, he has to end it with some sort of poem.

So...

Armor: "Gather energies around me/ Magic armor doth surround me."Burning Hands: "Heart's passion, desert sands/Inner flame brings burning hands."Color Spray: "From my hands, I shall show/ Wonders of the sky's rainbow!"Comprehend Languages: "With my touch, words are clear/ Whether I must read or I must here."Enlarge: "Girth now grows with but a word/Magic can be its own reward/"Reduce (reversed form of Enlarge): "Larger creature, now ye ken/The diff'rence 'tween mice and men."Featherfall: "Gentle winds, heed my call!/Gift me with a feather's fall!"Hypnotism: "Trust in me I suggest/ That you heed my one request."Light: "Glowing softly, captured day/Sliver o'Sun, light our way."Magic Missile: "Mage's missile shall do harm/ All in sight should take alarm!"Message: "Bear my words upon this gust/of wind to whom that i must trust."Read Magic: "Open my mind that I might see/ Reveal thy secrets unto me."Shield Magic: "Magic Missile, do no harm/Mages now should be alarmed!"Sleep: "Close your eyes and dream deep/Now 'tis time to go to sleep"Ventriloquism: "Magic's weaves, place my voice/ In a location of my choice."

Now for second level spells, I figured that instead of just doing the rhyming line again, or adding more lines, a spell could just have a one line evocative image, like so:Blur: "'Tis neither here, nor there/ but everywhere."Continual Light: "And thus! The Sun opens its unblinking eye!"Detect Invisible: "Lo! The Weave's hand parts the Unseen's veil!"Detect Evil: "Hark! Evil's shroud is ripped away!"Flaming Sphere: "Doom in fire's what I desire!"Knock: "No matter the lock, my will is the key!"Leomund's Trap: "Wand'ring fingers, prying eyes/Rogues'll get a nasty surprise!"Magic Mouth: "Speak when magic deems others should be spoken to."Melf's Acid Arrow: "Sizzle, bubble, bowstring and trouble!"Pyrotechnics: "Snake of smoke, coil about me."Web: "What a tangled Mythal Weave..."

Now, while this character will not be able to cast 8th level spells for quite some time, I figured that the second-highest level of spells in the PLayer's Handbook needed an awesome for to go with it: Haiku!

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About Shawn Struck

Shawn Struck's writing has appeared on the front page of Yahoo!, in 1UP.com, PC Magazine, 411 Mania, and Associated Content. He lives in a secret hideout in Somerset, NJ. Any posts made here are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the author's employers or affiliates. All posts are controlled solely by the author and produced independent of any employer, organization, or entity unless otherwise noted.